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Poll: I ....... them yesterday.

Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected.

Re: Past Simple or Present Perfect?

The time expression' yesterday' tells us clearly that the time is finished,so the past simple is used here. Also remember that the present perfect can be used to talk about the past action,but we don't tell the exact date when the action happened. It simply tells us about the past experience.

I worked for IBM in 2000

I have worked for IBM. (It is my past experience)

Also, the present perfect can be used to talk about an action that happened the past and continues to the present. We normally add the expressions like "for 2 days... since Monday...)

Re: Past Simple or Present Perfect?

Originally Posted by RonBee

The word yesterday makes all the difference here. It provides a time frame, and that makes all the difference. You can say I have seen him today, but you can't say I have seen him yesterday. I suppose the reason for that is that while saw refers to the past, have seen is about both the past and the present.